Search results

Acknowledging previous scholarly focus on functional attributes in understanding technology acceptance behaviour, the current study aims to offer a novel perspective by integrating eight different dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes to examine their influence in delivering a holistic web-based retail shopping experience.

The research model was tested and validated through data collected from 370 online shoppers across both hedonic and utilitarian product ranges. Hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling with multi-group analysis to examine the moderation effect.

The findings strongly support the model confirming eight new utilitarian and hedonic dimensions that influence web-based retail shopping behaviour. The findings also confirm that hedonic attributes remain important even for utilitarian product purchasing.

The key managerial implication is the demonstrated need to balance utilitarian and hedonic attributes in web-based retail platforms, where previously, there has been an overemphasis on functional features. Web-based retailers should consider the optimal blend of utilitarian (e.g. information quality) and hedonic (e.g. aesthetic) attributes in the design of a retail shopping site, irrespective of the product category.

This study integrates multiple dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes into a single model and highlights the interplay of these attributes, thus extending the technology acceptance model. This paper also advances scholarship through its identification of attribute impact across different product categories.

This study aims to examine whether and how cultural (dis) similarity between business entities enhances or impairs the development of commitment in the trust building process in industrial importer-foreign supplier relationships.

Drawing on theoretical lenses of transaction cost economics, resource-based view and dynamic capability view, this study investigates how cultural (dis)similarity moderates the effects of opportunism, transaction-specific investment (TSI), the relative advantage of importing and communication on commitment, leading to building trust in business relationships. Using structural equation modeling and moderated regression analysis, the study tested several predicted effects using a sample of 154 industrial importers drawn from a developing country in Asia.

A key finding of the study suggests that supplier opportunism comes into play and is negatively associated with industrial importer commitment as cultural dissimilarity increases. For culturally similar countries, opportunism does not affect commitment. Conversely, TSI has a positive effect on commitment for culturally similar countries; for dissimilar countries, TSI has no effect. The study also corroborates several additional hypotheses prevalent in the literature.

Cross-sectional data rather than longitudinal data, single country rather than multi-country perspectives and data from the importer’s side rather than from both importer and exporter may affect generalizability. Future research ought to address these issues to provide further insights.

The paper enriches the literature and extends the nomological network for international business theory by introducing the moderating effect of business cultural similarity in building commitment. Managerial perspectives are also gleaned from the findings.

To determine the factors that explain customer satisfaction in the full service restaurant industry.

Secondary research and qualitative interviews were used to build the model of customer satisfaction. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather data and test the model. Sampling involved a random selection of addresses from the telephone book and was supplemented by respondents selected on the basis of judgment sampling. Factor analysis and multiple regression were used to test the model.

The regression model suggested that customer satisfaction was influenced most by responsiveness of the frontline employees, followed by price and food quality (in that order). Physical design and appearance of the restaurant did not have a significant effect.

To explain customer satisfaction better, it may be important to look at additional factors or seek better measures of the constructs. For example, the measures of food quality may not have captured the complexity and variety of this construct. It may also be important to address the issue of why customers visit restaurants. Instead of the meal, business transactions or enjoying the cherished company of others may be more important. Under the circumstances, customer satisfaction factors may be different. The results are also not generalizable as the sampled area may have different requirements from restaurants.

Full service restaurants should focus on three elements – service quality (responsiveness), price, and food quality (reliability) – if customer satisfaction is to be treated as a strategic variable.

The study tests the transaction‐specific model and enhances the literature on restaurant service management.

The disparities faced by women, especially in Bangladesh, have a long and contentious history. From education and employment to health care and other social products, the marginalization of women has been stark. This paper aims to examine whether women experience poorer services than men in the hospitals in Bangladesh.

A survey was conducted in both public and private hospitals in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. The sample comprised 305 randomly selected respondents. Using statistical and data mining techniques, the authors test the hypothesis and identify interesting data patterns.

Surprisingly, very few differences were found between the service experiences of male and female patients. While the literature would predict differently, given the disparities that women generally experience, on most service quality attributes female patients were at least as well‐served as male patients.

The findings may be unique to the sample from the capital city where hospital users may be more affluent and are provided better service without gender inequity.

The findings raise intriguing questions. Among the various possibilities the authors surmise the following: there may be deeper systemic changes underway that are reflected in service providers' attitudes toward women. It is possible that women have lower expectations from the service providers; thus, their ratings are at par with those of men even if they actually received poorer services.

This is probably a unique study in that it focuses on gender effects on perceived service quality in a hospital setting in Bangladesh